DUBLIN – A challenging season filled with a rash of injuries reached its conclusion in the third round of the playoffs for the May Tigers, a feat that may have seemed unlikely in head coach Craig Steele’s 20th season after a sluggish start.
Facing their District 14 rival Jonesboro Eagles for the second time in the Class A Division I Region IV championship game Saturday, the Tigers – who dropped the first meeting 48-22 – trailed 56-39 at halftime in the rematch. But the second half wasn’t as kind to May, as the Eagles pulled away for an 86-39 victory to move within one victory of a trip to AT&T Stadium.
“We came in beat up and we’re leaving beat up,” Steele said. “Jonesboro is a very physical football team. I was real happy with the way we played the first half, we just couldn’t make enough plays in the second half to sustain drives, and we started running out of kids.”
The Tigers finished with 381 yards of total offense, with 308 of those coming in the first half. After intermission, May (9-4) mustered just 73 yards in a little over a quarter and a half as the game ended with 5:13 left in the fourth period.
Meanwhile, Jonesboro (12-1) generated 417 yards – 252 on the ground and 165 through the air. In the first half, the Eagles rushed for 229 yards while in the second half they passed for 127.
Braden Steele, May’s leading passer and rusher, came into the game extremely hobbled with a knee injury suffered in last week’s 57-12 area win over Leverett’s Chapel. Relegated to being used in passing situations only due to immobility, Steele completed just 4 of 16 attempts for 29 yards with an interception and rushed once for 3 yards.
Ben Harrell again shouldered a heavy portion of the load for May, as was the case against Leverett’s Chapel, as he rushed for a team-best 56 yards and completed 14 of 28 passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns.
Jackson Lusk led all May receivers with 10 grabs for 153 yards and three trips to the end zone while Ryland Billadeau chipped in three catches for 84 yards and two scores. Kaden Watkins added three receptions for 47 yards.
Mikey Scheriger contributed 37 yards and a touchdown through the air, 14 rushing yards and a score on the ground, and a pair of receptions for 16 yards.
Jonesboro was led by DeMarcus Acuff’s 112 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and Jacob Cisneros’ 104 yards on the ground and 38 passing yards and two scores. Luke Stephenson and Layden Nichols also rushed for touchdowns, while Maddox Stroud and Acuff hauled in scoring receptions.
May fell behind 8-0 in the first quarter on a 16-yard run by Acuff, but answered with a 43-yard scoring toss from Harrell to Billadeau to close the gap to 8-6 at the 5:47 mark.
Jonesboro stretched the lead to 16-6 on a 4-yard run by Nichols, but May again responded with a 37-yard strike from Scheriger to Billadeau to stay within 16-14 with 4:17 left in the opening frame.
The Eagles then tallied the next 24 points on a 27-yard pass from Cisneros to Acuff, a safety when May snapped a ball out of the end zone, an 11-yard strike from Cisneros to Stroud, and Acuff’s 30-yard interception return.
Trailing 40-14, May fought back with two consecutive touchdowns, the first a 50-yard pass from Harrell to Lusk and the second – set up by a Billadeau interception – on a 6-yard Scheriger run.
Down 40-26, May traded touchdowns with Jonesboro throughout the rest of the first half. Lusk caught touchdown passes of 11 and 36 yards from Harrell to account for the Tiger scores, while Stephenson and Acuff scored on runs on 7 and 42 yards respectively for Jonesboro, making the score 56-39 at the break.
The Eagles added four more touchdowns after intermission, while the injuries continued to mount for the hobbled Tigers.
Reflecting on the season and Saturday’s finale, Steele said, “The casual six-man observer after we got 45-ed by Oglesby would say May’s done, there’s no way they could get to the third round. I told the kids that no one expected them to be here but I’m really proud of them for the fight they showed this season and tonight. For that first half, we gave Jonesboro all they wanted, we just couldn’t finish it out.”
The Eagles move on to face Gordon (13-0), a 64-16 winner over Abbott (12-1) Friday, for the right to play in the Class A Division I state championship game.
